NOT A GOOD MORNING
When they reached home, Kang Sola had grown more somber. She had accepted her defeat in silence though she's still fuming mad, and maintained the non-speaking terms with Xue Guangxi. She did not even look at him when she went inside the house.
The young man drove off right after she left. He sped like a madman.
'Good.' Kang Sola thought to herself thinking that Xue Guangxi would not be spending the night at the Chen house. She wouldn't have to be in the same location as him nor see him the very next morning. Her lips slightly stretched into a small, tired smile.
However, the next morning, displeasure replaced all the brightness in her face when her eyes landed on the sight of Xue Guangxi seating with the family at breakfast.
She seated herself with the family, her neutral poker face already in place. She greeted everyone – Chen Lingfang, Jiang Biyu, and the twins, except for Xue Guangxi.
Father and Mother Chen exchanged looks with arched brows. "It's a chilly morning today, it seems."
"Grampa, it's in the middle of summer!" Chen Lihua commented.
"How can it be chilly?" Chen Lingtian chimed in. Both twins' brows dipped in a confused frown.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!!" A boom of laughter reverberated from the living room. "Uncle's delivering a joke!!!" It was a man's loud, energetic voice, and it wasn't Xue Guangxi's nor the Chen patriarch.
Chen Lingtian and Chen Lihua exchanged excited looks – eyes wide and mouth gaping with gasps, and almost shouted in unison, "Uncle Wenbin!!!"
Off they ran to the source of the booming voice.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" It went again, this time, it sounded louder, nearer.
The man in his early thirties appeared in the dining hall carrying both twins in each arm. His face radiated with a worry-free smile.
"I'm here to grab some breakfast. Didn't know there's a party here so early in the morning. Uncle, Aunty, I didn't get the invitation, but I'm here to crash anyway!!! Hahaha!!! What's for breakfast?"
In a span of a no less than five minutes, he blabbered on, set down the twins, grabbed a plate and utensils, checked on the food on the table, seated himself, then grabbed a sunny-side-up and two pieces of meatloaf.
"Woah! Were you famished? Easy!!!" Chen Lingfang commented, impressed by his nephew's appetite.
"Hahahahaha!!! Aunty's cooking is delicious." He turned towards the Chen patriarch in his attempt to curry favor.
"It's just a simple breakfast! And the cooks helped. I didn't do much of the work!" She smiled, pleased, despite her words.
"What brought you here?" Chen Lingfang inquired while reading his broadsheet newspaper.
"Some news about the company."
"Let's discuss in the study after breakfast."
"Mhmm." Mo Wenbin attended to his mouthwatering feast without further delay. "Sorry to interrupt you earlier, but I can understand now." He snickered, throwing meaningful glances at Kang Sola and Xue Guangxi who paid him no mind. "Indeed, it's raining cats and dogs. Hahaha."
"Or should I say, just one cat and one dog?" No one answered him, though. The oldies smiled and smirked knowingly, while the kids tilted their heads in bewilderment. The subjects of the teasing did not react.
When the two men left for Chen Lingfang's office, Kang Sola remembered the forms that needed to be submitted for the twins' field trip.
"Right, Mother, the twins' field trip is scheduled this weekend already." Turning to the kids, she berated them a little, "Why didn't you mention anything about it, huh, Xiao Lingtian, Xiao Lihua? Don't you want to go?"
The kids fell silent at first. Their back stiffened as if they were caught doing something they were not supposed to.
They exchanged looks, before the little girl said, with head bowed down, "All our classmates are going with their parents…"
Kang Sola sighed. Xue Guangxi laid down his utensils and gave all his attention to the kids.
Likewise, Mother Chen studied them. "Would you like to go, child?"
The little girl nodded.
"How about you, Xiao Lingtian?" Kang Sola asked.
The boy nodded too. "But it's alright, too, if we do not go." He darted his eyes from one person's face to the next before returning it on the ground.
"Then let's go! I'll go with you. We'll have loads of fun!" Xue Guangxi committed.
"Mother, please tell the guest that the task might be too daunting for him. I'll go and accompany the twins." Kang Sola recited matter-of-factly. She smugly kept her eyes on her plate.
"What's so daunting in playing with the kids? Right?" The young man asked the little boy in rhetoric. He raised his hand for a high five. The boy reciprocated.
"Mother, please tell the guest that the chaperone's task is looking after the twins, aside from spending quality time with them. On top of that, the chaperone should perform with the kids in front of everyone showcasing a talent. It's more than just play."
Xue Guangxi dropped his hand on the table with force. "I'm not just a guest here. I used to live here too, and I can come and go as I please! Is that a guest to you? Can you stop it?"
That was it. He couldn't hold his anger inside. He felt terrible for erupting in front of the kids, but it was too late anyway, and there's a matter that needs to be resolved without going into circuitous routes.
"If the kids want to go, I'll go with them as their uncle. I believe I am more than qualified." He added after a pause.
When the young lady did not answer, he turned to the matriarch, "Mother, what do you suggest?"
"Sola, do you want to go?"
"Of course! I should go."
"Then, both of you be their chaperone. One kid each."
"But Mother—"Xue Guangxi and Kang Sola protested at the same time.
"One chaperone for two kids IS daunting. My, the form states that a kid can bring two chaperones, and we have two here. I do suggest that my lovely husband and I join the fun. What do you say?"
"That's better!" Kang Sola agreed. "What a brilliant idea."
The twins were silent but they exchanged troubled looks. They did not seem to like the idea.